Celia's temporary pack settled down near a creek in the heavily snowed dark forest.
Normally, the large area covered with trees that preceded the royal palace was rich in natural resources. Rabbits, dears, foxes, squirrels, all kind of animals and different kind of birds formed its rich natural above ground ecosystem. In the river as well, even an inexperienced fisherman would surely catch a lot of nourishing fishes.
Considering such facts, the makeshift packs would normally be well fed in this lush patch of nature. They had fishes as a main food source and they could also hunt, the forest would be a perfect place to assure their daily lives in the summer. The problem was that it was winter now, not to mention freezing cold.
So even if there were a lot of animals, most would be hibernating and the animals that wouldn't, would be scarce. The creek was also starting to freeze, and the fishes had most likely settled already at the deep bottom, if there were still fishes left in the creek.
So each one of those rich resources, unfortunately could not entirely be depended upon. The solution was to make the most out of everything they could find. Which meant the students had to hunt on their own to assure their everyday meal. An activity that took most of the students' time.
One might think that these were not conditions for the students to be put through, and the students would agree with such opinions, but they were not ordinary humans, they were werewolves. They were stronger than humans, faster, their senses were hundreds of times better than humans, their stamina far surpassed theirs, and they were also resilient to cold. At least they were supposed to be, but looking at the girls around her, honestly if it weren't for the specific scent a wolf had, she could swear they were humans.
"I am dying of cold. I can't stand it anymore!" Lisa stated aggrieved. The second grade student who most likely was the source of all the rumors about Celia. How would she know for certain, well the rumors that were said were very similar to what she knew from Marcus, it was the same words she said before, those that had determined Marcus to leave her in the middle of nowhere. So it didn't take a genius to figure it out.
Lisa was dressed warmly, and was also besides the fire doing absolutely nothing, as she had done for the past week. Well not that most of the other girls did something either as they huddled around Lisa. So if they were cold, what could the ones doing the work with their hands in freezing water could say.
Almost all the girls spent their time eating whatever the boys managed to catch, or resting in their tents or, if not one of the first two options, then they spent time around the fire complaining of the cold. Most of the guys had enough of them, they thought that, if the girls were cold, actually doing something might make their blood circulate better and keep them warm, than just do nothing but complain.
But seeing as Lisa's father was an assistant to the Council, they kept their mouth shut. The girls, with a little bit of flattery towards Lisa, also dared to do the same as her. She felt proud because of their compliments and so she defended them if a guy dared to say something.
So as opposed to the first two –three days, the guys had given up on saying anything more and thought to bear with it. They were counting the days.
The bright side was that, as the guys felt more and more that the previous most popular girl to date in the Royal Academy was nothing but a brat and had completely changed their opinion of her, their impression of Celia changed for the better.
She hunted alongside them, and was actually the main catcher of prey. Her bow and knife handling were impeccable, she was also skilled in living in the forest and helped them get used to it as well. Not to mention, they realized that she was in fact truly fit to be a watcher. She was several times better than even the alphas of their home packs.
During one of the hunts, the blood of a deer attracted two large bears and she was the one who had killed both of them swiftly, gaining their deepest respect. The moves and strength she used at that time had left them speechless. They were werewolves, but most had been living inside packs protected by their elders. They had not come face to face to bears, so even though they had the power to kill a bear themselves they were still late in reacting when they came near one, even less two. And a second of distraction could mean a serious injury.
Celia did not bother about Lisa, or the other girls for that matter. She assigned the tasks on the first day, considering the strength of each individual, but as the papers she handed to everyone were tossed in the fire and was followed by a snicker from the girls, she gave up.
She had explained the importance of the exercise and that the grade they would be given would matter in their final grade. She also explained that the teachers were watching them, but would not intervene in any way during the exercise, only if it was a matter threatening their lives, but other than that, they had to fend for themselves.
She tried, but only the guys listened and understood the importance and only about two of three girls that handled the cooking. But most of the girls did not want to help in any way.
She did not care about Lisa's father being a Council assistant, she was not afraid she could be excluded from the watcher course. The problem was that when she insisted on them doing their chores, they had made a mess intentionally. She did not want to risk the whole pack's grade for the rest of them.
So when Lisa complained about the cold, none of the guys and Celia reacted in any way.
They took their weapons and left the area near the creek, trying to find the following day's food, the large pack needed about two or three deer a day to feed. It was already getting dark, but it was better than staying near the campsite, and night also did not pose a problem for them if they used their wolf vision.
Going deeper in the forest, they hunted the first deer. Celia's arrow swiftly found its way in the middle of the deer's eyes, a fast and without suffering death was the least she could do for the animal.
Assuring there were no more preys around, they each left their hiding places, and gathered around.
"Wow, another clean kill. You are amazing Alpha." One of the guys enthusiastically stated, a sentiment shared by the others too. It wasn't the first time they had seen her shots, but it still amazed them each time.
Celia nodded calmly and left to follow the scent of another deer. The expressionless face, which had made it difficult for them to understand her thoughts at first, no longer concerned them. The guys were not affected by her lack of response, they had gotten used to her personality.
They walked slowly on the icy ground, following the tracks that had yet to be covered under the snow bed, with the last ranked wolf dragging behind him the prey.
Walking some more time through the snowing and already dark view, the werewolves sensed the scent of yet another deer. For humans it would be hard to see through the multitude of fast falling snowflakes, but they could easily check the position of the animal in the dark with the same ease they would during the day. They slowly got in positions, trying to not scare it away, hiding behind snow covered bushes and trees. Most of them had dressed in white clothes or at least in light colored ones to blend in the environment, so their camouflage was almost perfect.
Silently they checked who was in the best position to fire his arrow. Looking around, Celia identified a guy who was in a better position than herself and nodded her head in his direction. The pack member understood the silent message and returned the nod preparing to fire.
He stretched his bow slowly, holding his breath. He wanted to ensure that his hand did not tremble in the slightest. Celia had targeted each time the head, but it was a difficult shot to perform, and as he knew he could not hit like her, he wanted to at least insure a swift death to its victim, by targeting the abdomen, near its heart.
He was about to release his arrow, but did not get to do so. The deer was frightened away and had already gone into hiding, as a loud sound was suddenly heard, it was a woman's suave voice.
"Relinquere illos non imperium, celeritate et viribus' The woman with a charming tone added to her voice spoke in an unknown strange language.
Celia's thoughts only wandered around for a few seconds, trying to recognize what was said and the exact language, which seemed somewhat familiar, before figuring out the meaning of the words she heard.
"Leave them without power, speed and strength" She slowly murmured the translated phrase... rather than it being only a phrase, a better word defined it, a spell. Realizing the frightening fact that someone was casting their spell on them, a witch to be exact, she quickly thought of the next course of action.
She roared, and for the second time in her life, used her alpha voice and her normal calm tone changed becoming more powerful and fit for a leader.
"We are under attack! Gather around now!" Her voice boomed echoing in the dark of night, there was no use to speak quietly as they were most likely already under the eyes of the attackers.
The meaning of the spell was to render them immobile and without the force to resist to whatever would follow, so the Alpha's order she hoped would work to group them up, before the effect of the spell showed. She did not know if the others had understood that it was a spell and did not want them doubting her words, and be late in reacting.
So she used Waning's strength to empower her words. Since she left her previous pack, Waning had kept staying mostly in the back of her mind. Sometimes she would reply, but mostly her voice could not be heard so she had not used Waning's wolf power since a while ago, but she was still able to use her strength now, for this she was thankful. Crescent was an Alpha also, but she was not certain that Crescent's voice could overpower the spell.
Crescent also would never take over her body, without Celia's permission, for now she would deal with the problem with her human side.
The other werewolves gathered around her quickly, compelled by her words. The members were left speechless of how easily she had made them submit to her will. But realizing the dire situation they were in, they did not try to resist or second guess her.
All of them knew that the exercise was meant for them to bond with the different grades and types of students during harsh conditions. They were not meant to receive unexpected attacks, and certainly not from witches. This forest, although vastly large, was still in the area of the Royal Palace, and witches or other supernatural creatures were not permitted to even approach its border without express permission from his highness. So naturally, they could only assume it was not a drill, but a real life endangering situation.
Just as the last werewolf hurried towards the group, finally the spell worked its magic. They felt their weight getting heavier, until most of them fell to their knees. Celia was still on her feet with a couple of the stronger werewolves, but the latter were also beginning to falter.
Shortly, the spell was in full effect so the stronger werewolves also fell to their knees. A second spell was cast not a moment later, as a white shiny mist glittered between the falling snowflakes, strengthening the first one, and preventing them from even moving. If not for the dangerous situation they were in, one would find that it was a beautiful sight. A true sight of winter magic was all around them.
Celia as well could not be bothered to notice it, as she forcefully steadied her feet, and because of the struggle to fight the spells, her eyes darkened instantly and her fangs and claws grew pointed. Her breath ragged and white steam could be seen in the dark, as her pulse and heartbeat heightened.
The other werewolves were trying to move, they were even trying to shift into their wolves, but it was no use, they could not change their position in the slightest.
She ignored their struggles, and the sounds they were making, trying to pinpoint the movements and sounds of the intruders. But she did not move her feet or even her head for that matter, trying to not give away the fact that if she tried a little harder she would be able to.
The enemy was in the dark, they were in plain sight and vulnerable, as she was the only one who could attack. The only advantage was the fact that no one knew of her strength and the fact that the spell had not a strong effect it should have on her. And she did not want to make them aware without first knowing with who she was dealing with.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A girl still standing. Now this is something I would have never imagined." Said a male's hoarse voice.
With screeching sound made by stepping on the frozen snow, she could slowly make out the contour of the male as he approached until the dark silhouette transformed into a clear image. He was followed by ten or more others behind him.
They were the last people she would ever expect to collude with witches. By their clothes and weapons she was certain, they were hunters.